


Moments

by veenaistired



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 06:03:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21453202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veenaistired/pseuds/veenaistired
Summary: Collection of Nejiten drabbles that ended up too short to be proper one-shots.
Relationships: Hyuuga Neji/Tenten
Kudos: 14





	1. Good Hair Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenten with her hair down is an uncommon sight, but stunning nevertheless.

The first time he sees Tenten with her hair down, Neji forgets how to breathe for a second. Up until now, he's only ever seen it done up in her characteristic twin buns, which look far from bad, actually, he finds them to be sort of cute, but they can't compare to the cascades of chestnut brown hair currently framing her face and tumbling down her back. They fall in soft waves, probably because of the updo they were caught in until just a second ago. Even though he knows it's rude, the young shinobi can't help but stare. Her hair is so long. Shorter than his own, but still, much longer than he ever imagined it being. Not that he thinks about Tenten's hair. Or her in general. Not at all.

Right now, he's past trying to pry his eyes away, she's combing through the thick strands with her hands in a desperate attempt to tame them. But, much like Tenten herself, they prove to be untamable. He smirks at how fitting it is. Her hair is so voluminous, unlike his own, it puffs up all around her head, looking soft to the touch. Not to mention the way the early morning sun reflects off of it, giving parts of it a copper glow. If he said he wasn't curious about how it felt like, said he didn't even feel the slightest urge to reach out and run his fingers through it, he'd be lying.

"Is there something on my face?" Her voice is low, they are on a mission after all, but catches him off guard nevertheless. His teammate has obviously caught him looking. Shit. For a long second, the young Hyuuga fumbles in the depths of his mind for any kind of answer. It doesn't come out the way he wants it to.  
"No! Your face is fine, it's just... your hair." At that, she just releases a sigh of resignation. Great job Neji, very smooth.

"Yeah, I know. It's a mess, right?" She's looking at the ground now, almost as if she's embarrassed. How Tenten, or anyone else for that matter, could feel that way about hair as stunning as hers, is a complete enigma to him. 

"Wait, that isn't what I meant. I think it looks...", he almost stumbles over the next word, unused to giving compliments of any sort, "...nice." Upon hearing these words, her head immediately snaps up in his direction and dark eyes find light ones.

She looks... surprised? Shocked? Neji is unable to tell and worries he might have overstepped his bounds. Which is why the tiny smile she gives him next comes as a complete surprise.

"Thank you." Once again, the kunoichi looks away, wrapping one of the strands around her finger, in her voice something he fails to decipher. Neji doesn't want to acknowledge the tiny summersault his heart makes at her reaction.

He isn't sure if his compliment is what prompted it, but the next time they meet off-mission, she wears her hair open.


	2. underneath the disco-lights (it's alright)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern AU, Neji watches Tenten dance at the club.

Neji thinks the first time he knows true love is when he sees her dance. Granted, he's known Tenten for years now, more precisely ever since they were twelve and she sat with him during lunch, scraped knees and a grin on her face, when nobody else would. And even though he can't deny that he's been having certain feelings for her, feelings he's been refusing to acknowledge or act on because, no, he's not crushing on his friend, he's never felt quite like this before. Like time has stopped and, suddenly, everything except for her seems blurry, irrelevant even. Like he's in love. Shit.

So, because in the wake of that realization he doesn't feel capable of much else, he watches her dance. And how she dances. She isn't particularly graceful or coordinated. There's a clumsiness to her motions that suggests that even she doesn't fully know what she's doing at the moment, but Neji swears he's never seen anything more beautiful. She's improvising. Going along with the flow, as she always does. All with a smile on her lips and a swing to her hips, not that he's looking at her hips in particular or anything.

Even in the confines of the stuffy club, she's free. Completely and unconditionally. He's always admired that about her, the way she refuses to let herself be caged, bo matter the circumstances. 

Moving and swaying, twisting and twirling to the beat, sometimes slightly off. He watches as she closes her eyes, loses herself in the moment. Loses herself to a song Neji barely recognizes. Tenten, of course, knows all the lyrics. Her lips move, forming words he can't hear over all the noise, the bass, the voices. He wonders just where she takes all that energy from. It's an enigma that's haunted his thoughts for longer than he'd care to admit. Whatever she does whether it's laughing or crying, or even simply talking about her day, there's a certain vibrancy to it. A vibrancy that feels distinctively Tenten.

One song changes into the next in such a botched way someone really ought to walk up and punch the DJ in the face and within seconds he sees a look of confusion on her face fade into one of recognition and then, finally, into absolute joy. This time around, even Neji knows the song and he finds himself quietly humming along while Tenten spins around and does something with her arms that looks more like flailing than any kind of dance move. He finds it lovely nevertheless. 

"Maybe you should stop staring and ask her to dance with you"

He almost jumps at the sudden intrusion, apparently more absorbed in watching his friend than he'd thought. Next to him, shit-eating grin on his face and drink in hand is none other than Kiba. Great. What's even worse is that he seems quite amused at the way he's managed to catch Neji off guard. 

"I'm _not_ staring." 

"Sure, keep telling yourself that Hyuuga." The hint of a laugh that's present in Kiba's voice infuriates him to no end, but he isn't about to take the bait and let himself be riled up. "Seriously though, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you asked her."

Part of him knows Kiba, as annoying as he is, is right. Part of him fears he isn't. 

"It's none of your business, Inuzuka." 

"Isn't it? Tenten's my friend too, you know. And I think the two of you have been dancing around each other long enough. Get it? Dance?"  
Neji suddenly feels the overwhelming need to both, throw up the one drink he's had all over the floor and punch Kiba in the mouth at the bad pun. In the end, he does neither. Instead, he shoots Inuzuka one of his famous death-glares, hoping that's enough to finally shut him up.

It isn't.

"Yo! Tenten!", Kiba shouts loud enough to be heard over the deafeningly loud music, gesturing for her to come over. 

For a split second, Neji can't do anything but stare wide-eyed in mortification as her head snaps around to the two of them and she actually walks over, leaving the group of girls she's been dancing with behind on the dancefloor. He barely has time to register the mischievous grin on Inuzuka's face before she's made her way over to them. 

"What's up?"

"Nothing much with me. Though Neji was wondering if you'd dance with him."At that, Tenten's dark eyes quickly find his light ones and he thinks he might be reading something akin to excitement in them. Her cheeks are flushed from all the dancing, but there's a smile on her lips. One he knows to be genuine.

"Really?" There's a faint hint of vodka in her breath as she speaks and she doesn't sound all that opposed to the idea. Quite the opposite, actually. He finds that, even if he wanted to, which he definitely doesn't, there was no way he could refuse her now. Even if he's a crappy dancer. 

"Uh, yes." Smooth. 

Thankfully, she doesn't seem to mind and takes his hand, already pulling him back towards the dancefloor. All of a sudden, his heart seems to be beating just the tiniest bit faster, but at the radiant smile that's plastered on her face, he feels all of the apprehension melt away in a matter of seconds. As they start moving to the beat he catches Kiba throw him a wink, but, just this once, he finds he doesn't mind.


	3. Before the Confines of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on a joke challenge from the Nt discord, Big Bang AU.

It all started with an energy so pure and strong, there was no form that could contain it, no way for it to keep existing in its current state. So it expanded. With a force so strong, in the eternity that followed not even a fraction of it could be recreated. If you will, it started with a bang. 

Space was born, and time and death. Dust and flames and rocks. Infinitesimally small specks of dust. Suns so big, rounding them once would take lifetimes. An endless ocean of possibility. For life. For glory. For ruin. 

And then, amongst the beautiful chaos, two souls were born. 

They fit, belonged to each other. Not like a lesser planet caught in the orbit of a greater one, but always revolving around each other. Sometimes, the neigh endless expanse of newborn galaxies between them. At others, so close there were only particles separating them. And sometimes, they touched. Mingled. Millennia passed like this as planets were born around them, but no matter how far apart, how many hours and weeks and years between them, never did they lose sight of each other.

For they were destined to be together until the end of eternity. 

Even when they chose to settle in those fragile human bodies, with lives so short they were entirely inconsequential to the rest of the universe. Humans, who believed in destiny and blind coincidence at the same time, even though both of them were cruel mistresses who kept striking them down again and again. Needless to say, they didn’t stay their blows for those two souls. 

And even though through the decades that followed, that would follow, fate dealt them it’s blows, they remained together. Because that was what they were made for. The biggest blessing and harshest curse.


End file.
